Thursday, 6 December 2018

I am very happy to announce the new O.R.k. album "Ramagehead", is now due for release on February 22nd via Kscope.

Commencing work after a short break at the end of our "Soul of an Octopus" Tour earlier this year, "Ramagehead" was written recorded between March and September, and has been mixed by the Grammy winning Marc Urselli and Adrian Benavides, with mastering by Micheal Fossenkemper of Turtle Tone Studios.

It certainly feels like the most complete and developed album we've made together. As before the distinctive elements of Pat Mastelotto's ever inventive drumming, Carmelo Pipitone's striking and original guitar work and Lef's distinctive and powerful vocals have blended together with me in the middle somewhere, and from my perspective we've certainly gained a lot from our live experiences in the last couple of years, something difficult to quantify, but an even greater group "oneness" and unspoken shared intent perhaps.

We have a very special guest vocalist in the shape of Serje Tankian, and Eleuteria Arena, who is a frequent live guest, also provides backing vocals and some beautiful cello.

Friday, 13 July 2018

Lorenzo Feliciati and I will be performing in Rome on August 1st in a trio format with drummer Roberto Gualdi. For a little taste of the live Twinscapes, please see the video below, filmed in Milan late last year:

I am also happy to say there will be a second full length Twinscapes album release seeing the light of day later this year on Rarenoise…more on that later…

Friday, 18 May 2018

For some time I've been interested in Blockchain technology, especially in relation to solving some of the many problems regarding intellectual property and copyright.
In theory, blockchain could remove some of the intermediaries and associated problems between musicians and the ability to monetise their work, by utilising smart contracts, a decentralised database and automating royalty payments.
I have decided to give this new technology a go myself, by releasing an EP through ujomusic, which is a direct release platform, currently in Beta mode, based on these ideas.
The link below takes you directly to the EP "Insomnia Sessions Part 1":

It could be the the future, or perhaps not, but it's something I am keen to try, as there are many problems with the current model of music distribution, if Ujo goes some way to helping solve and evolve the process, it will benefit not only creators, but listeners too.

As far as the music goes, insomnia is something I am too tired to discuss right now.....but all these tunes, (and more) were created during sleepless nights...

Wednesday, 16 May 2018

Herewith a few excerpts from the recent Hypersomniac show in Oslo, led by my O.R.k. bandmate Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari, the live line up was Eivind Aarset (guitar), Torstein Lofthus (drums) Stale Storlokken (Keyboards) myself on bass and special guest for the Oslo show Nils Petter Molvaer (trumpet/electronics).

Friday, 19 January 2018

I am happy to announce another forthcoming collaborative release for the coming months, an album of instrumental tracks with Estonian guitarist Robert Jurjendal.

Given the popularity and ubiquity and sometimes plain obviousness of the guitar, I never seem to have any trouble connecting and working with interesting, innovative and unique players who have developed their own singular and original approach to the instrument, I am not going to list any, since I am bound to forget someone…but anyone going backwards through these posts can find out who they are...

Anyway, I first heard Robert play with the ambient outfit “Slow Electric”, a joint UK/Estonian collaboration featuring English singer/songwriter Tim Bowness, with whom of course I’ve also played and recorded with.

It is said that opposites attract but I also think it’s true that like attracts like, I am naturally drawn to the “less is more” minimal approach and it was a straightforward thing to link up with Robert as I could easily detect the expansiveness in his musical approach, and for myself, I've always felt that creating a sense of space in music is one of my primary objectives as a bass player, the lacuna being just as important, if not more so, than the occupied frequencies.

Although I spent a good deal of time working on my parts of our album in the confines of my sunlight free basement studio (AKA Nightspace), for me the album is infused with a real sense of openness born from the beautiful medieval city of Tallinn, where I spent an all too short time exploring whilst playing with Ex-Wise Heads, and where Robert and I first started the seeds of our collaboration.

Searching for another “voice” to add depth to our compositions, we were extremely happy to receive the electronic contributions from Isak Nygaard, whose incredibly intricate and detailed programming and sonic manipulations both supplemented and complimented what we sent him.

The final ingredient is the expressive and stirring trumpet of Ian Dixon, a friend from long ago and far away (currently a resident of Melbourne, Australia) who’s also graced several Ex-Wise Heads tracks in the past, not to mention his work in another common thread, the band No-Man. Ian has recently been performing all over the world with legendary Ethiopian musician Mulate Astatke but I am happy to say, he found time to add his highly imaginative, intense and inspired voice to “Another World”.

More details will follow as a release date is firmed up, but for now I'd like to share this cover image by Kitty Jurjendal:

Thursday, 11 January 2018

I am happy to say this year will see the release of a second Twinscapes album, with Lorenzo Felicaiti and myself joined by Roberto Gualdi on drums and also on some tracks by percussionist Andi Pupato.
More news on this when I have it, as we are still in the closing stages of making the album, but for the remainder of January, the album can be pre-ordered with all other upcoming Rarenoise releases, as part of their yearly "Leap of Faith", please see below for an audio track: